Ensign’s Log, Entry 42: Goals for 2017

Any Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fans reading this? If so, take a moment to celebrate with me the wonderful coincidence that this post is my 42nd entry in my Ensign’s Log.

*ahem* Now that I’ve paid homage to one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, the focus must move on to the true reason for this post: my goals for 2017. More specifically, my writing, editing, and publication goals for 2017.

The major one is advancing to the next rank of my author goals: Lieutenant Junior Grade.

Technically, I reached that rank sometime in 2016, as I’ve definitely sold over 100 copies of Augment at this point. However, given the ups and downs of 2016, I’ve decided to this rank change will not occur until the new year, once I’ve published a third book (Upgrade, most likely). Yes, I’m counting From the Stories of Old as a book–my story is part of the anthology and like the other authors I will be receiving royalties from it.

My other goals are project-based, so I’m going to provide a brief overview of the projects and my plans for them for 2017.

 

Upgrade

The sequel to Augment, Upgrade has been in production for about a year and a half now, and still needs one more major editing pass, followed by some polishing passes, before it will be ready for publication. My goals for it are as follows:

January 1st-20th: Revise one chapter a day. This will be the final major editing pass if all goes well.

January 21st-February 28th: Polishing passes. By the end of February I will be able to assess whether I can proceed with publication in March, or if a little more time is required.

March 31st: Projected publication date if nothing catastrophic occurs. This is also the two-year anniversary of Augment, hence why I’d like to publish Upgrade then, if possible.

 

Demon’s Blade

The first book in a trilogy filled with demons, magic, and even a dash of romance (shocking, I know!), Demon’s Blade has been revised many times already, and is currently undergoing its first few rounds of critique on Scribophile. My goals for it are:

April 30th: Final heavy revision done.

May 31st: Final polishing complete.

June 30st: Projected publication date.

 

Demon’s Magic

The sequel to Demon’s Blade. The first draft is complete and has been revised, but still needs heavy revision, especially once Demon’s Blade has been completed. My current projected goals are:

July-September: Finish heavy revision.

October: Polishing, polishing, polishing.

November: Projected publication month; perhaps early in the month.

 

Skin as White as Snow OR Of Beauty Within

Both of these stories are fairy tale novelizations. Both aren’t quite finished in terms of first drafts. Both are currently warring for attention. I may wind up flipping a coin to decide which one to focus on, and which one to bench for a bit.

Focus Project Goals:

March 31st: Completed first draft.

June 30th: First round or two of revisions done.

September 30th: Major revisions complete.

December 31st: Potential publication date.

 

Benched Project Goals:

June 30th: Completed first draft.

 

Other Goals

There are a few other goals I have that aren’t project-based…

Writing Daily

I’d like to start writing a bit every day. I think my starting word count goal will be 250 words a day. If I consistently meet that goal for a month, I’ll increase it by 50 words. If I consistently write 300 words a day for the next month, I’ll increase it again, up to a cap of 500–I don’t want to overstretch myself. More than 500 a day would be awesome, but the goal is writing consistently and I don’t want to burn myself out.

Month Maps

I didn’t do so well with my month maps in 2016; several months were never or barely updated, and a few didn’t even have a map associated with them. For 2017, I’d like to continue creating Month Maps to track my progress, and I’m determined to be more consistent with my updates.

Marketing

I’ll be doing more research into marketing, and also start doing some serious marketing of Augment as Upgrade‘s publication date approaches.

Blogging

Last, but certainly not least, I’d like to be more consistent with my blogging. I’ll continue doing my monthly Magic Monday book review, I have the Blog World Tour (Fantasy and Science Fiction Editions) Author Interviews running into the middle of 2017, and I’d like to bring back Saturday Shorts.

Besides those, I’d like to share more about the writing and editing processes I go through during manuscript creation and revision. I might also do a reading challenge through Goodreads–if I do, I’ll be posting regular updates on that as well.

 

Whew! That’s a lot to see all typed out like this, but I’ve got 365 days to complete these goals, and plenty of willpower and determination. 2017 is going to be a good year!

What are your goals for 2017?